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General Problems

All symbols reported invalid

Recent versions of TWS seem to
get confused when you have a bad symbol, into think every symbol
is bad. This happens when you have and expired future or option
symbol, that used by good, but is now no longer trading. Check
the {View | Messages dialog} to locate the first symbol that
was reported invalid, this usually gives you a clue. To eliminate
it out of SSChart, you need to remove it from SLFMaps and any
other window it might be in (inluding Time&Sales, charts,
etc.). One hidden source that you might not see is if you have
been using the graphical trading and still have and open order
recorded there for either real or paper trading. If the order
info is obsolete you might need to exit the program and delete
the file CONFIG\openorders.dump to get rid of the order
that isn't visible. If you have modified alias file you
are using to include reference to a specific future contract,
this can also be a source of the symbol being included. You need
to edit the file again once the future is expired.

TWS ticker pages scrolls continually

This sometimes happens when you autostart
TWS and it takes a long time to get its connection going (possibly due
to a long pause while you enter your security code). If you see the
tickers scrolling out of site in TWS this seems to be somekind of
communication intialization problem. The fix is to shutdown SSChart
(which usually results in the scrolling stopping immediately after
you do this). When the scrolling stops, restart SSChart and reconnect
(or if SSChart is set to auto-connect, just give it a chance to do this,
which should happen within a few seconds). Connection will be fine
after restarting.
In the event TWS is still misbehaving after closing SSChart, shutdown
TWS and restart it, once it is getting data, restart SSChart and connect.

TWS shuts down

Check the auto logoff time under
TWS {Configure | Misc | Auto logoff time}. Note IB US servers currently shutdown near midnight
eastern time until 12:30 AM next morning. (Exact times can vary). Its best
to restart both the router and SSChart after the maintenance shutdown.
When TWS shuts down, SSChart reports the connection lost and shuts off
quote
collection, you must restart quote collection after bringing
TWS back up.

Slow response, losing data,
generally messed up

Check memory usage on you system
using Windows Task Manager (NT/2000/XP only). If the memory
shown in use is higher than your physical memory then Windows
will be swapping one or more programs out of memory (virtual
memory). This is absolutely unacceptable for a realtime programs
like TWS and SSChart. This will cause all sorts of problems with
missed quotes, etc. Close down unnecessary programs or add more
RAM to your system. It may be necessary to reboot occasionally
as some programs (internet explorer for example) do have memory
leaks (i.e. fail to give up memory that they no longer need in
some circumstances).

Just as a reference, we have
256Megs of RAM on a 1.2Ghz Athlon system running WIndows 2000
, and this is sufficent to run SSChart, TWS (maybe two instances)
and the browser (until it starts leaking memory). SSChart typically
consumes small fraction of the RAM that TWS consumes.

Connection accepted, no errors, but no
data in chart

First realize an intraday chart
will not suddely appear for the whole day if you have just started
collecting data. Data is built in realtime as it comes in, so
the markets must be open, the symbol must have some trading activity.

Secondly, there is no connection
to IB TWS until the quote button is depressed (in the SSChart
toolbar).

The ability to get data for times
prior to when you started collecting data is called "backfill",
to get backfill from IB, <right-click> in the chart and
select {Update}, the update can take several seconds or
as long as about a minute. The status line at the bottom the
the SSChart window shows what is being requested. Sometimes IB
servers will return no data for the first request, but will retrieve
it if you make a seconds request.

The chart will be built one bar
at a time going forward from when you start collecting data.
All data you collect will be saved to disk so you can exit and
restart SSChart and it will keep the data you collect in the
previous run, but will have nothing for the period when you weren't
collecting any.

A good way to see that the data
is coming in is open a Time&Sales window and drop the symbol
in. (You must use drag-and-drop to get the symbol into a time&sales
window.)

Other possible causes of no data
displayed:

It is outside US market hours
and the Show all Sessions setting is not made in the chart.
<right click> in the chart and select Show all Sessions
from the pop-up menu. (If this setting is already selected it
will have a check mark next to it. Note for US futures times
outside of 0930-1600 are considered extended session and require
the above setting to be displayed.

The symbol was entered incorrectly.
Check the router console screen and see if "invalid ticker"
error was reported for some id number.

No data for some or all symbols

If no data is coming in for any
symbols SSChart warns with a "thump" sound, and the
status bar displays the time without data. We have seen occasions
where TWS does not register the request for a ticker. Toggle
the quote collection button (in SSChart) off and then on again.
This will force a rerequest of quotes for all symbols.

Data for some symbols but not others

The TWS API currently limits
the maximum number of symbols you can get data for to 100. Check
the router console screen for error messages. Any request for
a "ticker id" > 100 will fail for this reason. (Note:
If you spend a lot in commissions you may get more symbols from
TWS) You can try more symbols from time to time. TWS used to
return and error to the API after the maximum number of symbols
was reached (when the limit was 40), but it apparently no longer
does, it just seems to ignore the symbols request after the limit
is reached. TWS does display an error dialog, unless you've checked
the "Don't display this message again" box. If you
check the [x]Info box under {View | Status Messages},
it will display the requests numbers for each symbol when they
are made so you can tell how many have been requested.

If you are under the 100 symbol
limit, but are still not getting data for some symbols, try toggling
quote collection off and then back on. This will force the program
to re-request the data stream for all symbols. If noticed recently
instances where TWS has apprently not registered some of the
symbols requests. This has happened more frequently on slower
computers.

(Note: Most of the info below
relates to use of the SSQRouterIB program, and should not be
an issue when using the IB TWS Socket Interface for quotes.)

Can't close program

If you set the quote data source
to "SS IB Quote Router" and turn on quotes before
you set the "hostname" you may get into a situation
where SSChart will not shut down. (The thread for router communication
is active preventing shut down). In this case you will need to
use the windows task manager (<ctrl><alt><del>
and select task manager) to kill sschart.exe. Be sure to follow
all the configuration steps
in order.

Can't connect to quote router

If
you have SS IB Quote Router selected as the Quote Data source
under {Data | Internet
Sources...} and any chart
or SLFMap or other windows open in SSChart containing any symbols,
then SSChart will attempt to connect to the quote router when
you switch on continuous quotes. (Either <click> the toolbar
button that looks like a green lightning bolt,
or select {Data | Get Continuous Quotes}).

Possible causes of can't connect
error:

Hostname blank or wrong under
{File | Preferences...} Note: If the router is running
on the same machine as SSChart, try "127.0.0.1" as
the hostname.

SSQRouterIB not running, or
not running on machine that matches hostname. (SSQRouterIB can
be minimized after you start it, but do not close it.)

Router running on a different
machine from SSChart and network sharing not setup properly.
If you can not access each computer with my network places
then you need to setup LAN first under windows.

You changed quote source to
a different router after connection to the first was made. Restart
both quote router and SSChart. Verify quote source and hostname
fields before quotes are switched on. (You might need
to disable auto-collect under {File | Preferences...}
to keep quotes collection from being automatically switched on
when you start SSChart.

No open channel (4 max.) from
quote router to SSChart.

SSChart crashed, or was killed
with taskmanager and you restarted it without restarting the
router. In this case it is necessary to exit and restart both
programs to reset the communication channel.

You are using a dial-up internet
connection, and the connection is not established. (We recently
discovered windows mistakenly thinks dial-up is necessary to
establish pipe connection to the router even if it is on the
same machine.)

Your windows login password
has expired. (Windows NT/2000/XP periodically prompts you to
change your password. If you normally leave your system on all
the time and ignore the warning and the password expires it can
cause the pipe connection to the router to fail. Reboot and set
a new password (or renew the same one) to correct this.)

If connection is made to quote
router successfully the the router console screen shows "Connection
established on channel 0" (or 1,2, or 3) and also "Spigot
connection established on channel 0" (or 1,2, or 3). It
then displays "Connecting.." which means it is attempting
to connect to TWS. This is the point where you should get the
"Accept incoming connection" dialog from TWS.

No "Accept incoming connection"
dialog from TWS

Possible causes:

Dialog is there but hidden underneath
another window. Make TWS the active window which should bring
the dialog to the top. (<click> in the TWS window, or on
the taskbar button if it is minimized to make it active.)

TWS API port not set to 7496
(or other port you have set in with the router 'login' command
on the router console). Change setting in TWS under {Configure
| API}.

You have change the 'Host"
setting with the 'login' command on the router console, and this
is not the host (computer) that TWS is running on.

TWS not running.

TWS not connected to IB servers
(TWS grid lines all purple). Wait for TWS to reconnect and then
retry.

Router already connected to
TWS. If you exit and restart SSChart, but leave the router and
TWS running after it has established a connection, the connection
is maintained. If the connection is present you should be getting
data in SSChart if any trading is occuring.

TWS "Accept incoming connection"
dialog not answered with 30 seconds of switching on quotes. SSChart
timed out while waiting for response from quote router so was
no longer looking for a response. Stop and start quote collection
again in SSChart. (If this does not work, exit and restart SSChart
again. In some cases you might need to exit and restart both
the quote router and SSChart.) Use the router auto-confirm
connection feature.